Four years after the builder made his application for a construction licence, the Curtorim Village Panchayat will deliberate on the issue and decide on Friday whether to grant the license or not.

The issue has come before the panchayat once again after the gram sabha at its last meeting asked the body to take a call on the issue based on the resolutions adopted by the Curtorim gram sabha.

The High Court had in its order dated September 25, 2012 directed the Curtorim Village Panchayat to take a decision on the proposal dated January 20, 2008 received from a partnership firm Ms Talak Homes & Estate within a period of 12 weeks.

The village panchayat had maintained in the High Court that the gram sabha had passed a resolution not to issue licence to mega housing project.

Besides, the panchayat referred to the objections from the villagers of Curtorim not to allow construction that violates Village Panchayat-2 status as notified in the RP 2021. The Panchayat also took the plea in the High Court over the serious problem of garbage management and disposal in Curtorim.

On the other hand, the builder contended that the gram sabha is not empowered under the Panchayat Raj Act to deal with the issuance of development/construction permissions, which is the function only of the panchayat under the Act.
The builder has further denied that the project has affected any forest area or will adversely affect drinking and irrigation water of families.